Capricor Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CAPR) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Capricor Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CAPR) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $17.07, but opened at $17.90. Capricor Therapeutics shares last traded at $19.23, with a volume of 1,607,629 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Capricor Therapeutics from $12.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Capricor Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Capricor Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of Capricor Therapeutics in a report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Capricor Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.60.

Capricor Therapeutics Trading Up 20.2 %

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.58. The firm has a market cap of $656.21 million, a PE ratio of -21.16 and a beta of 3.92.

Capricor Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CAPR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by ($0.03). Capricor Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 220.27% and a negative net margin of 102.93%. The firm had revenue of $3.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.51 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Capricor Therapeutics Inc will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Capricor Therapeutics

In other news, major shareholder Shinyaku Co Ltd Nippon acquired 2,798,507 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $5.36 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,997.52. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 7,090,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,004,281.36. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 12.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Capricor Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Capricor Therapeutics by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,365,903 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,274,000 after purchasing an additional 200,499 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Capricor Therapeutics by 158.7% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 137,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 84,350 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Capricor Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $426,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Capricor Therapeutics by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 79,782 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 9,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of Capricor Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $147,000. 21.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Capricor Therapeutics Company Profile

Capricor Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ:CAPR) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of first-in-class biological therapeutics for the treatment of rare disorders. Capricor’s lead candidate, CAP-1002, is an allogeneic cell therapy that is currently in clinical development for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.